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Diana
Build Guide by Shadow_Light

This build has been archived and is for historical display only.

PLEASE NOTE: This build has been archived by the author. They are no longer supporting nor updating this build and it may have become outdated. As such, voting and commenting have been disabled and it no longer appears in regular search results.

Not Updated For Current Season

This guide has not yet been updated for the current season. Please keep this in mind while reading. You can see the most recently updated guides on the browse guides page.

Introduction

NOTE: Please note that some parts of this guide are outdatet! I am still working to update the guide for the current season. My first aim will be to keep the cheatsheet updated and the corresponding explanations in the guide will follow soon.

Hello everyone and welcome to my guide Diana - A new moon rises.
Since this is my first guide here on Mobafire it is probably not perfect so I would really appreciate if you leave a comment after reading with constructive criticism or possible improvements.
Please note that English is not my native language so if you find any mistakes in grammar or spelling feel free to leave a comment so I can correct this.

As the title already says this is a Diana guide and it will tell you how to build and play Diana as AP Carry in mid lane or as a jungler. I created this guide because I think I found a way to build Diana with damage and survivability and still having fun playing her. Please don't judge the guide from the Cheat Sheet and read the whole thing before voting. It wont take too much times since I tried to avoid walls of text.

For everyone that is interested in Diana's Lore that will tell you the origin of her weapon and explain her appearance feel free to read it here. :D

Diana's Lore

An unyielding avatar of the moon's power, Diana wages a dark crusade against the sun-worshipping Solari. Though she once sought the acceptance of her people, years of futile struggle shaped her into a bitter, resentful warrior. She now presents her foes with a terrible ultimatum: revere the moon's light, or die by her crescent blade.Though she was born to the Solari, Diana's inquisitive nature set her apart from her brethren. She had always found solace and guidance in the night sky, and questioned the dominance of the sun in her society. The Solari elders responded to her challenges with only derision and punishment. Diana remained convinced, however, that if she could find evidence of the moon's power, the elders would listen to reason. For years, she studied Solari archives in solitude until she discovered an encoded message hidden in an old tome. This clue led her to a secluded valley on Mount Targon where she unearthed the hidden entrance to an ancient, sealed temple. Inside, among aging relics and faded murals, she found an ornate suit of armor and a beautiful crescent blade, both inscribed with sigils of the moon. Diana donned the armaments and returned to the Solari elders that night. She declared that the artifacts proved others had once worshipped the moon as she did. Her discovery of evidence challenging Solari dominion shocked the elders. To Diana's horror, they pronounced her a heretic and condemned her to death. As the elders prepared her for execution, Diana's anger and sorrow overwhelmed her desire for acceptance. She lifted her gaze to the sky, calling upon the moon for strength. Lunar power surged within her and she shattered her bindings. Raising her relic blade, she turned and slaughtered the elders. With the temple in ruins behind her, Diana resolved to destroy all those who would deny the power of the moon.

''The sun does not reveal truth. Its light only burns and blinds.''-- Diana

Pros / Cons

As every other champion Diana has positive and negative aspects that I will list here.

Masteries

Lane

21 points in offense is a must when playing Diana. I go for ability power, cooldown reduction and magic Penetration to maximize my damage and Summoner's Wrath for the improved Ignite. Spellsword is also a really good mastery that increase your auto attack damage greatly late game. I put 2 points in Havoc to get to the next tier but you can also take Butcher for easier last hitting.

9 points is the best choice for me when laning with Diana. The health and magic resist will offer you more survivability against harass. Take Hardiness over Resistance if you are facing an AD mid or you want to take less damage from autoattack harass.

When jungling you should also take 21 points in offense for more damage. The reasons for this are the same as when laning. The only difference is that you don't need Summoner's Wrath as you aren't taking Ignite and Butcher is normally a good die to clear the jungle faster. Instead of Sorcery you can also take Fury for faster jungling. Spellsword will also greatly increase your clearing speed.

When jungling the defense tree is obligatory. You cannot go without the survivability you get from it. Health masteries and Tough Skin will let you survive longer and Bladed Armor will reflect some damage to jungle creeps. Summoner's Resolve is for the improved Smite. I didn't try it out yet but I think Hardiness could also be an Option.

Runes

Lane

Marks

Probably the best marks you can take. They give you magic penetration to increase your overall damage what is basically the most important thing as an AP assassin.

Glyphs

Ability power will increase your overall damage. These Glyphs are especially good late game when you got a higher level and your Deathcap.

I don't like these glyphs at all but they will provide you with good survivability when you have a hard matchup against an AP Carry.

Seals

Diana can be very mana hungry. These seals will solve most of your mana issues late game and let you spam your abilites more often.

When facing an AD mid or a champion with good autoattack harass these seals can be incredibly helpful to reduce poke damage.

If you want more overall survivability health seals can be pretty good let you survive longer.

Quintessences

More AP means more damage. These quints will let you start with nearly 15 AP + what you get from your masteries while still being useful late game due to Rabadon's Deathcap

If you are facing a very skillshot heavy champion the movement speed can help you to dodge their poke.

More magic Penetration means stronger ganks and these marks are still useful late game when enemies start stacking magic resist.

Glyphs

More AP means more overall damage. These Glyphs are especially good late game and there aren't any better options for jungling.

Seals

With these Seals you will take less damage while jungling. You will need the armor to survive and not get hit too low by the jungle creeps.

Quintessences

Again more AP, more damage. These quints are very good early game as well as late game due to Rabadon's Deathcap.

Summoner Spells

Lane

I think that Flash is always necessary when mid laning with Diana since she has no escape skill. If you dive in to kill your opponent and you combo fails you would probably die but not with that summoner spell. You want to survive? Take it.

Ignite is the spell that I recommend you. It's for securing early kills and shutting down Health Regeneration tanks like Dr. Mundo late game. I take it because it will add an additional damage spell to your kit that will help you as an assassin.

Again another obligatory spell. Always take Smite when jungling. You will not only clear the jungle faster you will also have the ability to secure and steal objectives with this spell.

Ability Explanation

Moonsilver Blade (Passive): This is a very nice passive. It will make farming easier as well as inflicting some serious damage to your enemies late game since it scales quite high with AP. It will make your autoattacks very bursty with Spellsword and maybe a Lich Bane proc.
When hitting minions with this be careful that you don't push your lane too much with the aoe damage because you will risk getting ganked by the enemy jungler.

Moonsilver Blade

Crescent Strike: This is you main harass and damage ability. It allows you to be aggressive and harass your lane opponent even before level 6. Hitting your target with this skill is not that easy as it seems to be because unlike normal skillshots it will go in an arc towards a target location and do a small explosion there.

This is a key ability for Diana so practice it until you are good enough to almost guarantee that it will hit

You can use this skill to check bushes since it will reveal enemies hit for 3 seconds

You can also last hit minions with this ability but care that you don't push your lane

Pale Cascade: This skill will give you some extra survivability and damage. The shield that it grants you scales with AP and it can be used double in a fight since it will refresh as soon as all the 3 Spheres explode. You will also get a nice damage output with this skill when hitting all 3 Spheres.

If you use this ability while your target is afflicted by Moonlight, the debuff that enemies get from your Crescent Strike, it will have it's cooldown reset!

Use this for chasing and assassinating

Skill Sequence

Generally go R>Q>W>E

Lane

Ability Sequence

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

8

9

10

11

12

13

14

15

16

17

18

You should start off with Crescent Strike to be able to harass my opponent. Then you want to take the shield for some sustain. I don't take a point in Moonfall before level 4 since it fits to your whole combo but is rather useless without your ult. You want to max out Crescent Strike as soon as possible for more damage followed by Pale Cascade for even more damage and some sustain. Since Moonfall is primary a Utility Ability it wont hurt much maxing this last. Lunar Rush is your Ultimate and you want to take this whenever possible of course.

Jungle

Ability Sequence

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

8

9

10

11

12

13

14

15

16

17

18

Okay so when jungling you want to start off with Pale Cascade. The refreshing shield and the aoe damage make it incredibly good when jungling. After that you want to take Crescent Strike for more damage and then again Pale Cascade for the same reasons as mentioned above. At level 4 you go for Moonfall for the ganks and then follow the usual skill order.

Items

Lane

Starting Items

x3

This is a very common and also very good start. The flask plus 3 Health potions will give you a lot of sustain and early trading potential as you can recover your Health and Mana. Especially in ranked games, but also in normals ist often a good idea to take a Sight Ward instead of 2 Potions to protect yourself from early ganks.

x5

This is what you want to start with when facing an AD mid. Ist the best set up against AD's for you because of the early armor and sustain and additionally Cloth Armor will be built into a Zhonya's Hourglass later. It's also possible to take a Sight Ward instead of potions here.

x3

This used to be a very common start but at the Moment ist not the best. I only suggest to start like this when facing a really heavy skillshot lane

Early Game Options

x2

On your first back taking 2 Doran's Ring's can be very good. They will give you damage Health and some mana back on each last hit. There are several situations where you could buy them for example you are having an even match-up and want to boost your stats to win your lane. But in the end it's mostly about personal preference.

This can also be a very good early game item. I recommend buying a Haunting guise when you are winning your lane easily. The Ability Power and Magic Pen will let you dominate your lane. If you buy this build it into Liandry's Torment later.

Boots and Enchantments

These are probably the best boots for Diana and you should take them in nearly every game. They provide you movement Speed, just like all other boots and 20 flat Magic Penetration to help your damage. You should buy them maybe after you got at leas 1 other damage Item on your second back but you will know best when you need them.

Well these could also be viable boots in certain situations. When are are having very big Trouble with enemy AP's you can buy those boots for some more defense or you buy them for the tenacity when the enemy has lots of CC. It is also possible to get Mercury's Treads late game as a substitute for Sorcerer's Shoes when you already bought a Void Staff and need some more defense.

This is the enchantment that you should buy in most games. It helps you to get close enough to your enemies. I don't really feel like Enchantment: Furor would be an option because Diana doesn't have too much problems with sticking close to her enemies.

This is an enchantment that I think you can get on every champion. It can be very good if you team isn't doing well and you are staying at your base a lot. But as long as you are not in that Kind of situation you shouldn't buy this.

Core Items

This is a really great item on Diana. It offers you some nice defense but also good offensive stats with the 70 AP and the Magic Resist reduction aura. As Diana needs to be in melee range in order to kill her enemies you will Profit a lot from this aura. You should get this item in nearly every game and there are several situations where you will also rush it.

Probably one of your most important Items. It gives you a large amount of Ability Power and the passive that will boost all of your AP again. After getting this you will notice a huge damage increase and you should never really skip this item.

This is also a very important item. It gives you great Ability Power and defense. Not only the armor will help you to be more tanky but also the awesome passive that will make you invulnarable for 2.5 seconds. Always buy this

Build Order when facing AP

>>>>>>

So this is and example order of your items when you are facing an AP champion. This doesn't mean that this is a set build order that you should always do. The important things about this are just that you should get your Abyssal Scepter and in most games Sorcerer's Shoes before anything else. But you should always vary the exact order according to your current situation.
After building those 2 important items just go on with the core build.

Build Order when facing AD

>>>>>

when facing an AD Champion in mid your build order should be a bit different. It's normally best to rush Seeker's Armguard (after you have boots of course) as it will help you a lot with being poked and kited by AD champions. Then, normally after Sorcerer's Shoes you should build it into a Zhonya's Hourglass. With the damage and survivability of this item you should now be able to win the fights against your opponent.
Again this is not a set order and you should always build according to the Situation.
After you have your upgraded boots and Hourglass just go on with the core build.

Situational Items

After you have finished your core build, the rest of your items should always be bought according to your current situation. There are a lot of items that you can pick from but ist important that you always have a good balance of offensive and defensive items. That's why I will now list the most important onse from both sides here.

Offensive Items

This is a great offensive item that will fit very well into your build in most situations. It will give you a lot more damage some very welcomed Cooldown Reduction and a great active to increase your assassinating capabilities. Buy this when you have Problems killing your targets or when you just want more damage because enemies are getting tankier.

Another nice item for damage increases. You will get some nice AP from this as well as alot of Magic Penetration. The Penetration is percentual so this item is great when enemies have a whole lot of Magic Resist. Together with you Abyssal Scepter, Sorcerer's Shoes and occasionally Liandry's Torment you will have a big amount of Magic Pen.

This item was actually part of my core build on Diana. The main reason it isn't anymore, is that there are so many other great items. But anyway this is still a very good item for damage because of the passive burn from this item. It is especially good if you buy it together with Rylai's Crystal Scepter because the passive slow from it will double the burn.

This is another damage item that I really love on Diana. It gives you so nice stats but the best thing about it is the passive. It works so great together with your Moonsilver Blade and will let you deal huge damage with your auto attacks.

I really love this item. 500 HP is enough to make you a lot tankier and you still get 80 AP from this item. But don't Forget about the passive slow that will apply to all of your abilities, except your Moonsilver Blade. Buy this if you have problems with sticking to your enemies or if you just want to be a bit tankier while still increasing your damage.

This is a very strong pure defensive Item. You get great armor and magic resist plus a second life. When it happens that you are often in the middle of a fight or just targeted by the whole enemy team this will help you a lot. When enemies see the effect of this item around you they tend not to Focus you and even if they do you will be revived.

Another very strong defensive Item. It gives you a large amount of magic resist and also some Health and Mana. But the best thing about it is the passive spellshield. It will block the next enemy ability that would hit you. This is especially good to block strong cc spells or absorb heavy incoming damage that would destroy you.

League of Warmogs. This is item gives you the highest amount of health. It will make you very tanky and also let you recover your Health faster through ist passive. You can get this for example when the enemies like to focus you because a large health pool scares them away.

Jungle

Starting Items

x5

This is what you should always start with when jungling. The machete will help you to clear the jungle faster and it build into very useful stuff. The potions are necessary when jungling because you dont have any natural sustain and need them to recover your life.

First Back

Boots are very important to buy on your first back. You will need the movement speed to be faster while jungling and also for ganking.

This item should also be bought as early as possible. The Health and Mana Regeneration is needed to sustain your life and Mana and the increased damage to Monsters will again let you clear the jungle faster.

Boots and Enchantments

Okay so for boots and enchanments it is really exactly the same as in lane. I don't want to write all of this again so you just click on the link below to read it in the lane section. :)Boots and Enchantments

Core Items

Great jungling item. It gives you so many good things like Ability Power, Cooldown Redution, Mana Regen and even more increased damage to monsters. You will also get 20% Spellvamp from this what will help you a lot to sustain yourself in jungle. And additionally with this item the cooldown on your Smite will be reduced by 20% what is just awesome because you will be jungling a lot faster and have your smite up more often to steal and secure objectives.

I used to really dislike this item but after ist rework it is really great for jungle Diana. You get some nice AP, Cooldown Reduction and a lot of attack speed. The AS will let you jungle faster especially because you will proc your Moonsilver Blade. And now it has that awesome passive that will make you deal additional dammage depending on your AP. This is just great to get faster clearing times and particularly in combination with the AP and AS this item already gives.

Situational Items

Again just as when laning the rest of your build is situational. You now have some Items to pick from but remember to have good combination of offense and defense. I think the best picks are nearly the same as when laning. So you can just click the link below to see some options and I will now also list a few additional items that can't be found above.Offensive & Defensive Items

Additional Offensive Items

Unlike when laning this item is not core for jungling. But anyway I think it is still the best offensive Option and you will probably buy it in many games because of the huge damage increase you will get from this item.

Additional Defensive Items

This is also an item which isn't core when jungling but stil great. It gives you good defense as well as damage. You get Ability Power and a MR Reduction Aura that will normally be appliead on your enemies as you have to get in melee range to kill your foes.

Another really good defensive and offensive Item. You get a very big amount of Ability Power from this as well as 50 Armor. And it has a great active which will make you invincible for 2.5 seconds. An awesome pick for almost every situation.

This is a very strong but pure defensive item. I reccomend you to buy this if you are really taking a lot of damage in teamfights from the enemy AD's. If you get this item and another defensive one you will probably able to act as semi-tank.

Smartcasting

Explanation of Smartcasting

Smartcasting is a keybinding setting. If you smartcast a skill it will automatically go to your current cursor position. That means that you don't have to confirm the skill with a mouseclick. Skills that require a target will target the enemy at your cursor position and skillshots will go in the direction of your cursor position. Basically it makes all your skills work like Flash or like Karthus' Lay Waste.
That you skills will be casted immediately after pressing the key means that you can use your skills a lot faster but it also means that you don't have any range indicators anymore. So you should only use smartcasting on any champion if you know about the range of the skills.
You can set your skills to smartcast by clicking on Key Bindings in the menu.

Smartcasting on Diana brings a good advantages. Since you are an assassin you have to burst down your target quickly what gets easier with smartcasting. But it wont be that easy due to your Crescent Strike. Crescent Strike goes in an arc so you should only use smartcasting on Diana if you are a bit familiar with her Q because if not you will have a hard time with her since hitting your Q is crucial for a good gameplay.

Skill Combos

Main Combo

>>>>>> >> AA

This should be your main skill combo when playing Diana. First you hit your enemy with Crescent Strike then jump to them with Lunar Rush and activate Pale Cascade. Now your target will realize how many damage you deal to them and will attempt to run. Pull them back with Moonfall and if your target is not dead continue Auto-Attacking if you want or just start the combo again.

Turret Diving

>>>>>> >>

When you want to turret dive a low life target you should first hit it with Crescent Strike and then jump to it with Lunar Rush. Always activate Pale Cascade even if you don't need it to kill your target because the shield will take some of the turrets damage. If your target attemts to run pull it back with Moonfall. When your target is dead look for an enemy minion that you can Lunar Rush too to get out of the turret. If no minion is near run out of the turret as quickly as possible.

Chasing

>>>>

OR

>> >>

When you are chasing a low life target always hit Crescent Strike first if you can. Then immediately Lunar Rush twice to your target to kill it. With this combo you can also follow a flash or an escape skill.
If you can't hit you target with Crescent Strike because your target is too far but still in range for Lunar Rush use the second combo to kill it.
Remember that Crescent Strike deals damage in an arc. If the target you are chasing is running around an obstacle like a wall or whatever it's fairly easy to hit them with Crescent Strike and Lunar Rush through the obstacle or just Lunar Rush and continue the combo depending on how low your target is.

Escaping

>>

When you need to escape a gank remember that always can Lunar Rush to any enemy minions and neutral monster as long as they are revealed.
When you are running in the jungle you can use Crescent Strike to reveal a jungle camp and Lunar Rush to one of the creeps. Only use this combo if the chasing enemy is not that near that he will catch when using Crescent Strike.

Switching Positions

>>

When using this combo right you can actually switch positions with an enemy.
The trick is that as soon as you pull a target with Moonfall you have to Lunar Rush to them before the target is fully pulled. Then you will Lunar Rush to your enemies previous position while he will get pulled to your previous position.
This combo is very useful for chasing and for escaping too.

Gameplay

Lane

Early Game
The early game is the hardest part for Diana. It will be difficult to farm since you will be facing a ranged Champion in many games. Try to last hit as much as possible and avoid getting harassed too much by your lane opponent.
Use your Crescent Strike to last hit minions that are hard to reach. Don't push your lane too much, try to always stay near your tower but not too near because your tower will take your last hits then.
If you can, harass your opponent with Crescent Strike and always activate your Pale Cascade in trades. Be careful that you don't spam your skills too much because you will get mana problems.
Once you reach level 6 you get dangerous. Hit your opponent with Crescent Strike and activate Pale Cascade. If you can kill your enemy pull him back with Moonfall as he attempts to run and finish him with Auto-Attacks and Ignite. If not go back to safety or jump to an enemy minion with Lunar Rush and wait for your jungler to gank.
Always ask your jungler for blue buff. Most of the times playing aggressive is a good idea with Diana. You need many kills to get your core build.
If your lane is going well you should push and go roaming. Gank the other lanes and help to feed you and your teammates.

Mid Game
This is where you start shining. You should have most of your core build by now and even more if you are fed. Depending on the situation you should now start to build a few offensive and defensive items.
You have an incredible high burst power and a gap closer what means you can kill carries extremely fast. Always remember that. If you didn't have a really bad laning phase (what happens too) you should be able to win most 1vs1 fights. So if you see a possibility of getting a kill or assist without dying use it.
Keep laning and roaming until the teamfights start. Harrass your enemy and remember to get the blue buff if possible.
Normally you shouldn't engage in a teamfight since you are still kinda squishy. Let your tank initiate and then follow up with Crescent Strike and Lunar Rush. You will notice that you deal some serious damage to your enemies. It's important that you always focus the highest priority targets since you are an assassin and you can burst them down quickly.
If see a low health enemy running from a teamfight chase and kill them.
If you see yourself getting low because you are focused get out of the teamfight. Maybe you can jump towards an enemy minion with Lunar Rush or you just use Flash to get away.

Late Game
This is where your damage output will reach maximum. You probably nearly have already finished your build. You will have good survivability and damage with all your items and you should be able to assassinate every enemy carry.
The main focus is now on them teamfights as well as the Baron Nashor. Always keep this place warded.
You still shouldn't initiate in teamfights and remember that you always focus the most dangerous enemies. Remember that you are a good pusher. If you see a chance too push you should always do it late game because it could be the difference between a win and a loss.

Jungling

Jungle RoutesRoute 1

1. Blue Buff

Initial Spawn: 1:55

Respawn: 5:00

Start at the Blue Buff.Get a pull here and activate Pale Cascade as soon as the creeps start attacking you. Kill the Golem first and then the Lizards. Use smite for the Golem. You shouldn't need a health potion for the Blue Buff.
After killing it you should hit level 2 and take Crescent Strike.

2. Wolves

Initial Spawn: 1:55

Respawn: 0:50

After the Blue Buff take down the wolves.
Use Pale Cascade and Crescent Strike to kill them faster and receive less damage.
You shouldn't need a Health Potion here neither.

3. Wraiths

Initial Spawn: 1:55

Respawn: 0:50

When you killed the wolves cross the mid lane and head to the Wraiths.
Use a Health Potion here if you get too low.

4. Red Buff

Initial Spawn: 1:55

Respawn: 5:00

Next is the Red Buff.
Normally you need a Health Potion here. Always use your skills to clear the camps faster. Depending on you fast you were your smite should be back up to finish Red Buff. Now you should hit level 3. If you wanna gank now take Moonfall otherwise put another point in Crescent Strike.

5. Double Golems

Initial Spawn: 1:55

Respawn: 0:50

If you have enough health left kill the Double Golems.
After that you should recall and buy Items cause normall your health wont be high enough to gank.
After that you should gank often and kill any jungle camp that is in your way.

Route 2

1. Wolves

Initial Spawn: 1:55

Respawn: 0:50

Only start at the wolves if you team will help you a bit. Then you can clear the wolves before the Blue Buff spawns. Otherwise take the Route 1. You shouldn't get a pull. Hit the wolves first and immediately activate Pale Cascade to have it back up for the next camp. Now your teammates should do some damage on the wolves to help but not kill them since you will lose experience and gold.

2. Blue Buff

Initial Spawn: 1:55

Respawn: 5:00

Now the Blue Buff. Get some help here. Use Pale Cascade and Smite. Kill the Golem First.
You shouldn't need a Health Potion until now. Once you hit level 2 take Crescent Strike.

3. Wraiths

Initial Spawn: 1:55

Respawn: 0:50

When you killed the Blue Buff cross the mid lane and head to the Wraiths.
Use a Health Potion here if you get too low.

4. Double Golems

Initial Spawn: 1:55

Respawn: 0:50

Next is the Red Buff.
Next are the Double Golems.
You kill them before the Red Buff on this Route to have your smite back up for it. Use a Health Potion if needed.

5. Red Buff

Initial Spawn: 1:55

Respawn: 5:00

Now the Red Buff. Normally you need a Health Potion here. Always use your skills to clear the camps faster. Your smite should be back up to finish Red Buff.
Now you can either gank or recall to your base and buy items.
After that you should gank often and just kill any jungle camp that is in your way.

Midlane Matchups

In this section I will discuss what champions you will be facing in mid lane and how to play against them. You will also be able to see a typcal build of that and a rating of the difficulty of the lane. I rated the difficulty on scale from 1 to 5 whereas means easy and means hard.

NOTE: This section is not finished yet. I am currently working on it and will be adding the missing champs slowly until it is finished. Red names in the index are not done yet. It wont take too much time I finish this. :D

This is a lane you shouldn't underestimate. Stay defensive before level 6 and try to farm as much as possible. If you can harass her with Crescent Strike and avoid her Charm at all costs. You will probably get poked much by her Orb of Deception and she can heal herself pretty well with Essence Theft. As soon as you reach level 6 try to land a Crescent Strike and kill her with your combo. But always keep in mind that she is extremely mobile with Spirit Rush. The lane wont be easy but you can manage it.

Akali

Difficulty:

Typical Build:

This is a lane you should normally win. Akali is an melee range assassin just like Diana so you will be facing a kinda similar champion. Except that Diana has a lot of things to counter her. First your poke is a lot stronger than hers. Crescent Strike has more damage and range than Mark of the Assassin and you should be able to easily outfarm her by denying her farm through harass. And second Diana is more tanky than Akali. That is why you will nearly every 1v1 against her. Keep that in mind. Farm and poke her until level 6 and then you can start bursting her down.

Anivia

Difficulty:

Typical Build:

Anivia is not really a hard lane but will require some skill. Pre 6 you will have a very hard time. You wont be able to farm a lot because her poke is pretty strong. Avoid her Flash Frost cause if you get hit Anivia will follow up with a Frostbite for some heavy poke damage. Stay as passive as you can and if you get the chance poke with Crescent Strike. After level 6 you will just wreck her. Your damage is enough to burst her down extremely fast. You have a gap closer and your Moonfall can Interrupt Glacial Storm. So as soon as you get your ult you will be able to kill her whenever you want.

Annie

Difficulty:

Typical Build:

This is not an easy lane at all. Pre 6 Annie will be very hard for you. She has a poke that cannot be dodged with Disintegrate and can also use it to farm more or less safe. Try to Harass her if possible and weaken her early. Always look if she has her Pyromania charged. You will see a visual effect aroung her and her next ability will stun you allowing her some free poke on you. After level 6 Annie will get dangerous. Watch out for a Tibbers stun and don't underestimate her burst. Fighting her 1v1 is not always a good idea because Annie will be pretty tanky. Ask your jungler for ganks to kill her or poke her down to low life before engaging on her. Build some survivability yourself early on in order to be able to fight her.

Brand

Difficulty:

Typical Build:

Brand is not too difficult for Diana. Early on he will try to poke you. He can stun you with Sear if you are ablaze and his combo together with Blaze can really hurt so just be careful. Dodgin his skills shouldn't be too difficult because they are mostly predictable. Farm and poke him yourself with Crescent Strike. After level six go kick his ***. He is not that tanky and with your combo you will be able to burst him before he can do anything. Just Keep watching out for his stun as his combo can be really painful.

Cassiopeia

Difficulty:

Typical Build:

Skill dependant lane. Cassios poke is very strong. Her Noxious Blast+ Twin Fang combination can be real pain. But don't Forget that you have also pretty strong car***. Cassio is kinda squishy and will get very low if hit by a few Crescent Strike's. Stay safe until level 6. Farm as much as possible but don't forget to poke. Just don't play to agressive. If you get hit by a Noxious Blast use your Pale Cascade to shield some of the damage. After level six you can go for a kill. But be careful. If you just jump on her she will mos likely put a Miasma down at your feet and stun you with her ult. If that happens she will burst you down. Let your jungler gank and always peep in mind that her ult can completely turn around a fight.

Ezreal

Difficulty:

Typical Build:

This is a lane you won't see often. Ezreal is not that hard for you at all. He has some pretty song range pokes and can be very bursty with some AP and a Lich Bane. But he is just too squishy. Watch out for his poke until level 6 and then go rape him. You will be killing him easily. He has his Arcane Shift to get away from you but with Lunar Rush's reset and your Moonfall it wont be enough to escape. His lack of cc and tankiness make him an easy target.

Fizz

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Difficulty:

Typical Build:

Fizz is a tricky champion but a very big threat to you. He has melee range just like which means your farming will be easier. Care for his poke and be Aware that he can dodge skills with Playful / Trickster. Build some tankiness early on to survive his burst. You can also put some Points into your Pale Cascade early to help your survivability. Then after level 6 if you are tanky enough you will probably win 1v1 fights against him.

Gragas

Difficulty:

Typical Build:

Gragas can be really hard. He has very strong harass with Barrel Roll. If you get hit by it to often you will see your health bar dropping really fast. If he is going to Body Slam you, use Pale Cascade and trade auto attacks with him as you will deal more damage in a close fight. Overall you might want to build some early tankiness. Dodge as much as possible of his harass and ask your jungler for ganks.

Karthus

Difficulty:

Typical Build:

This is a really easy lane in my opinion. His only real poke is Lay Waste and it's fairly easy to dodge. Overall his damage isn't very impressive and he is rather squishy. Pre 6 just avoid his q and as soon as you get your ult you will be killing him easily. Just watch out for Death Defied which allows him to cast skills for a few seconds after his death.

Kassadin

Difficulty:

Typical Build:

I think this is a skill dependant lane. Before level 6 Kassa is weak. Just like you except that you are a bit stronger and would probably win a direct fight. After you get your ultimates you will both have a very strong gap closer. Except that Riftwalk has the Advantage that he will be able to teleport him just anywhere he wants. Try to shield his poke and harass him if you can. If you attempt to kill him don't forget about his silence. Ask your jungler for a gank but remember that you will need to combo your cc as his ultimate makes ganks very difficult.

Katarina

Sinister Steel

Difficulty:

Typical Build:

This lane shouldn't be too hard for you. Your harass is strong enough to deny her farming and you can shield hers. You will probably win any 1v1 fight against her as you can interrupt Death Lotus with Moonfall. Just remember to keep it off cooldown in case she wants to use her ult and you wont have any problems.

Kennen

Difficulty:

Typical Build:

This is an easly lane with some difficulties. Before level 6 you wont be able to do much. Kennen's harass is strong. He might even harass you with basic attacks what can hurt a lot if he gets his Electrical Surge pasive proc on you. Stay as safe as you can because if he destroys your early game you will have a hard time later. If you manage not to lose hard until you get your ultimate you have won this matchup. You can burst him down fast and he wont be able to escape your Lunar Rush reset. Just be Aware that you shouldn't feed him early.

LeBlanc

Mirror ImageSigil of Silence

Difficulty:

Typical Build:

Early game will be very hard. She will most likely deny all your farming by constantly harassing you with her spells. As soon as you both reach level 6 things get more interesting. With her ult she will have a very strong burst. Rush Abyssal Scepter to resist and her combo and then you will probably be able to win against her and destroy her game. Just don't let her raom too much. Keep pushing her and warn your teammates if she is missing.

Lux

Difficulty:

Typical Build:

Long range harass can be pain. Pre 6 dodge her poke at any cost. Don't give her any kills and let her snowball. Just stay passive until level 6. Because then you will kick her ***. Your burst is too much for the squishy Lux and so you will normally win this matchup if you manage not to lose early game too hard. Just care for her Light Binding because if you get hit by it her whole combo will follow up and burst you down.

Malzahar

Difficulty:

Typical Build:

Rather easy lane. Pre 6 just harass him and keep him away from farming. If his Malefic Visions jumps on you use Pale Cascade to soak up the damage. After you reach level 6 and he is low enough you can go for a kill. But just pleas do not turret dive him. If you jump on him under the turret you will die for sure. His Nether Grasp will not only mess up your whole combo it will also keep you long enough under his turret to drop all your health easily.

Warding

Wards win games. Warding is always important no matter if you are jungling or mid laning. I made a map and coloured all important warding spots for mid laning or jungling.

Green: Important when mid laning to protect yourself from enemy ganks.

Blue: When jungling you can ward here to protect your Buffs.

Pink: Ward here if you are counter jungling.

Conclusion and Special Thanks

If you got this far in my guide, it's finished now. Thanks for reading it and don't forget to comment and vote. I appreciate any kind of feedback and suggestions for this guide. If you have any questions feel free to leave a comment or PM me if you want.

And now I also want to thank everyone that contributet to this guide in any way.

Thanks to jhoijhoi for the Making A Guide Guide and for the templates there.
And also a big thanks for the awesome guide graphics (banners + line dividers).

Thanks to Xenotechie for reviewing my guide. You can find his Review Shop here.

And of course thanks to you for reading this guide! Thanks to everyone that voted or commented for my guide and helped me to improve it. As long as you keep reading my guide I will continue to update it and everytime someone says I helped him with this it is a great feeling. So I want to thank all of you for voting this guide to 91%, voting it to #1 so that more people can see it.

Scores

If you want you can send me your scores with this item build and I will add them here.
I put them in a spoiler so the big images wont make this site load slower so if you want to see them just click the spoiler. :D

Spoiler: Click to view

My Scores:

Score by ciNNEX:

Score by RobotboyX2:

Score by Carnerox:

Scores by Envoy of Pain:

Score by Mutme:

Score by RumbleBumble:

Score by SirZe:

Score by Lon****2:

Score by Sarrane:

Scores by Cwakrjax:

Score by DarkEdiz:

Score by EarthyWaffle:

Changelog

August/9/2012 - Guide released

August/22-26/2012 - Minor Updates, added more skill combos and items

August/27/2012 - Reworked Jungling Section

September/1/2012 - Added Screenshots for all skills and videos for the skill combos

League of Legends is a team based, real time strategy game set in a mythical world of swords & magic where epic battles decide the fate of mystical nations. Game players take on the role of a Summoner who conjures and controls champions to fight for them at the Institute of War. During game play champions gain experience and items to enhance their skills and abilities. How players develop and play their champions can be the difference between a crushing defeat or a glorious victory!